Isoliquiritin exert protective effect on telencephalon infarction injury by regulating multi-pathways in zebrafish model of ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND

Ischemic stroke is a multifactorial disease contributing to mortality and neurological dysfunction. Isoliquiritin (ISL) has been reported to possess a series of pharmacological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anti-depression, anti-neurotoxicity and pro-angiogenesis activities but whether it can be used for ischemic stroke treatment remains unknown.

PURPOSE

The goal of this study is to explore its therapeutic effect on ischemic stroke and demonstrated the potential mechanism of ISL in zebrafish model.

METHODS

Using the photothrombotic-induced adult zebrafish model of ischemic stroke, we visualized the telencephalon (Tel) and optic tectum (OT) infarction injury at 24 h post-light exposure for 30 min by TTC and H&E staining. The effect of ISL on neurological deficits was analyzed during open tank swimming by video tracking. The antioxidant activity against ischemia injury was quantified by SOD, GSH-Px and MDA assay. Transcriptome analysis of zebrafish Tel revealed how ISL regulating gene expression to exert protective effect, which were also been validated by real-time quantitative PCR assays.

RESULTS

We found for the first time that the Tel tissue was the first damaged site of the whole brain and it showed more sensitivity to the brain ischemic damage compared to the OT. ISL reduced the rate of Tel injury, ameliorated neurological deficits as well as counteracted oxidative damages by increasing SOD, GSH-Px and decreasing MDA activity. GO enrichment demonstrated that ISL protected membrane and membrane function as well as initiate immune regulation in the stress response after ischemia. KEGG pathway analysis pointed out that immune-related pathways, apoptosis as well as necroptosis pathways were more involved in the protective mechanism of ISL. Furthermore, the log2 fold change in expression pattern of 25 genes detected by qRT-PCR was consistent with that by RNA-seq.

CONCLUSIONS

Tel was highly sensitive to the brain ischemia injury in zebrafish model of ischemic stroke. ISL significantly exerted protective effect on Tel injury, neurological deficits and oxidative damages. ISL could regulate a variety of genes related to immune, apoptosis and necrosis pathways against complex cascade reaction after ischemia. These findings enriched the study of ISL, making it a novel multi-target agent for ischemic stroke treatment.